Origin: before 900; Middle English wo (interjection and noun), Old English wā (interjection) (compare wellaway); cognate with Dutch wee,German Weh,Old Norse vei,Latin vae
Synonyms 1. anguish, tribulation, trial, wretchedness, melancholy. See sorrow.
O.E. wa, a common exclamation of lament in many languages (cf. L. væ, Gk. oa, Ger. weh, Lettish wai, O.Ir. fe, Welsh gwae, Armenian vay). The noun is attested from c.1175, from the interjection.